Charge make draft picks, now hope for best

Saturday

Nov 2, 2013 at 12:56 AM

Tiring draft process over for the Charge. Now they wait to see if any of these guys can play.

Josh Weir

Tired and relieved, Mike Gansey emerged from the Canton Charge’s war room inside Edgewood Community Center on Friday night.
“I’m ready to get some sleep this weekend,” the Cavaliers director of D-League operations said.
He doesn’t yet know if he should have sweet dreams or nightmares, but he’s leaning toward the former.
The Charge used their first-round picks, Nos. 13 and 14 overall, to draft point guard Bo Spencer and forward Gilbert Brown. After trading one of their second-round picks earlier in the day for veteran guard Robert Hite, the Charge used the No. 31 overall on shooting guard Zane Johnson.
Who are these guys?
Should Canton be excited?
No one really knows after a process where 180 names of players from every corner of the basketball universe get dumped into the laps of D-League teams two days before the draft. Eight rapid-fire rounds ensue.
“I can definitely compare it to fantasy football,” new Charge head coach Steve Hetzel said. “You’ve got two minutes to make a decision in the war room. Luckily, the guys I work for are very thorough in the process they go through.”
The Charge announced during the night that point guard Jorge Gutierrez, shooting guard Antoine Agudio and power forward Kevin Jones will return to the Charge this season from last year’s team. Also, forward Tyrell Biggs, Canton’s first-round pick in its inaugural season of 2011-12, will be back after spending last year in Lithuania.
They’ll be joined by three guys picked Friday whom the Charge had ranked in their top 10 players overall going into the draft.
The 24-year-old Spencer, a Baton Rouge, La. native, played his first three years at LSU before academic problems led him to transfer to Nebraska for his senior year. He averaged 15.4 points, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals for the Cornhuskers.
After playing a lot of shooting guard in college, he transitioned to more point guard in Italy last year.
“He’s grown as a player,” Hetzel said. “Very good in pick-and-roll. Manipulates the pick-and-roll very well, and that’s something that’s hard to teach.”
Spencer still has to familiarize himself with the Charge and the D-League, but he knows one thing: He’s just a short step from the NBA.
“I want to give it a try in the states,” Spencer said by cell phone. “I asked my agent the best way to get on the radar of the NBA, and he pointed me to (the D-League).”
Brown, a 26-year-old Pitt product, played 19 games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in 2011-12. He averaged 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds. He played last season in Turkey and Puerto Rico.
Brown is a typical Pitt guy — gritty and hard-nosed — which the Charge like.
“I want to do the same things I’ve done whether it’s been college or the pros, and that’s to bring a winning mentality,” Brown said by cell phone. “I’m an athlete and I can score, rebound and defend. “
Brown was in preseason camp with the Celtics in 2011 and felt like he performed well there. He wants to give the NBA another go.
“I just feel like the timing is right,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
Johnson, a 24-year-old shooting guard from Hawaii, comes to Canton after playing in Spain and Japan last season.
“I look at him as instant offense,” Hetzel said of the 6-6 Johnson. “Watching him on tape, he was very efficient in getting to spots on the floor and getting clean looks off, which I liked a lot about him.”
The Charge completed their night by picking point guard Lorne Jackson out of Pepperdine in the fifth round and forward Alejo Rodriguez from Iona in the sixth round. They passed on using their seventh and eighth-round picks.
“It’s been a lot of hard work,” Gansey said. “Now we’re just ready to get everybody in town and get going.”
The Charge open training camp Thursday.
Reach Josh at 330-580-8426 or josh.weir@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @jweirREP

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